Erich Weisz was a Jewish boy born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary in 1874. While he claims he was born in Appleton, Wisconsin. His father was a Jewish Rabbi, Mayer Samuel Weisz, and his mother was Cecelia Weisz (“Timeline of Houdini's Life”). Erich was short, standing at 5'5”, with dark gray eyes, dark wavy hair, and a high toned voice. Erich had little formal education, like most people at that time, but was exceedingly athletic and extremely motivated (“Harry Houdini Biography”). By the time Houdini was six, he had already developed a taste for magic and sleight of hand after seeing a traveling magician performed the Linking Rings trick. His first trick was making a dried pea appear in any one of three cups (“Harry Houdini” PBS). When Erich was nine some friends of his opened up a five-cent circus. He wore red woolen socks, and called himself "Erich, The Prince of the Air." Erich worked for a localized locksmith and able to pick almost any lock at age eleven. An autobiography by the famed French magician, Houdin, Erich was inspired and chose to follow in his footsteps business-wise. (“Timeline of Houdini's Life”). At the age of thirteen, Erich and his father moved to New York City, after a few of failures in the Midwest, and got jobs as newspaper seller. Then, when he was there he became very interested in trapeze arts and spent his time practicing (“Harry Houdini Biography” Bio.com). Erich and his father got casual jobs, while living in a boarding house, then later their family came to join them. Erich's family was often at odds with one another, having its share of conflicts, and to make matters worse his family was in poverty. He had five brothers and a sister: Nathan, Herman, Theodore “Theo” also known as “Dash”, Gottfried, Leopold, and Gladys (“Harry Houdini Biography”). Erich Weisz changed his name to Harry Houdini after his nickname “Ehrie” and the famous French magician “Houdin” and started “The Houdini Brothers” with a pal named Hayman (“Harry Houdini”). It may be unexpected, but Houdini was not a fast success, for the first five years he tried many different types of magic such as: card tricks, illusions, and escape acts. When he was ready to give up, he put up a newspaper ad to sell all his tips and secrets for twenty-dollars and no one bought. His best act was a needle trick that involved swallowing a dozen needles on a string and regurgitating the string with all the needles neatly threaded (“Harry Houdini Biography”). Hayman and Houdini had a falling out, and Houdini replaced him with his brother Theodore “Dash”. Later that year, Harry met his future wife Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner also known as “Bess.” They married after a three week courtship and she replaced Dash changing the name to simply “The Houdinis”. Their most famous act was called “The Metamorphosis” where they stepped in giant trunks and traded places then stepped out to see an amazed crowd (“Harry Houdini” PBS). Harry Houdini began practicing public escape acts with handcuffs and also had police officers search him for anything he could be hiding (“Timeline of Houdini's Life”). When tied down in ropes or straitjackets, he gained wiggle room by enlarging his shoulders and chest, moving his arms slightly away from his body. In 1898, he came up with a challenging act that was very popular and crowned him as the “Handcuff King.” The act involved him escaping any pair of handcuffs provided by the audience and some police officers jammed the handcuffs that were offered, so tight that he could barely get out of them, so he had to make a few modifications later on. Not only did he escape from handcuffs, but also escaped from places like jail cells, handcuffed bridge jumps, locked canvas mailbags and giant paper bags without making a tear. He also escaped form padlocked crates thrown in rivers. Before these acts he resorted to appearing as a medium telling people about their dead relatives by gathering information from the townsfolk to make his “messages” more appealing and convincing. In one of his books he revealed how many locks and handcuffs could be opened with applied force, others with shoestrings, or he carried concealed lock picks or keys (“Harry Houdini Biography”). An entertainment manager named Martin Beck saw Houdini's potential and soon booked Houdini some of the best venues in the nation, then they toured Europe (“Harry Houdini Biography” Bio.com). Within months Houdini would act all over the US with untold popularity. Many of his escapes were originally behind curtains with him appearing free at the very end; however Houdini noticed people would rather watch without the curtains (“Harry Houdini”). Martin Beck would be the best thing to happen to Houdini and he would continue his act in the United States with his wife until his death. While visiting a friend, Houdini saw his first straight jacket and wanted to figure a way to escape it and created an act around it. He later did not just escape from it he escaped from it hanging upside down suspended many feet off the ground. Houdini's most memorable were his water torture cell escapes, milk can escapes, and being buried alive (“Harry Houdini Biography”). The Chinese Water Torture Cell, would be the trademark of his career. It involved Houdini suspended by his feet and lowered upside-down in a glass locker filled with water, requiring him to hold his breath for minutes in order to escape. The performance was so original and such a crowd pleaser that it remained his main act until his death in 1926. In 1902 Houdini has a lawsuit against a local newspaper and police officer who accused him of bribery and faking his stunts, having to reveal some of his secrets when he won the case (“Harry Houdini Biography”). When Houdini's mother died his career took another turn and he focused his attention on a very booming business of spirit mediums. Either he was overly outraged at the mistreatment of the sorrowing or he saw an opportunity to expose the public curiosity. He decided to spend the last thirteen years of his life in an extremely publicizing conflict with many spiritualists. He matched the ghostly apparitions, noises and mysteries levitations performed by the mediums and the “spirits” (“Harry Houdini Biography”). Houdini began attending séances in disguise, accompanied by a reporter and police officer to debunk the mediums (“Harry Houdini”). He also had help from a psychic named Anna Eva Fay, he, very cleverly, became one of the most famous mediums of all. It was so popular it took up a third of his regular acts (“Harry Houdini Biography”). He met Sir Arthur Doyle, who is a writer and creator of Sherlock Holmes, in his adventures. They were friends as soon as they met and by 1920 they had a friendship that could never be broken. Houdini had lost his mother in 1913 and Doyle's son died, so they had a connection in their grief. Eventually their bond began to break, and Houdini was more and more skeptical of Doyle's belief in the ability to contact the dead. Doyle thought Houdini's movement against spiritualism was ridiculous and the feud began between these two friends started and quickly became popular (“Harry Houdini” Encyclopedia.com). Houdini's fame and wealth allowed him to experience a few other of his passions, such as aviation and film and also writing (“Harry Houdini Biography”). In 1908 he published The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin, his first controversial book (“Timeline of Houdini's Life”). He also published Miracle Mongers, Their Methods and A Magician among the Spirits. His first plane was bought in 1909 and he tried to be the first to man a controlled flight over Australia in 1910. After a few failed attempts he completed it, but Capt. Colin Defries beat him by making a short flight in December 1909 (“Harry Houdini Biography”). Houdini acted in a few movies one was called Quentin Locke where he played a character by the name of Master Detective, who saved scared maidens and fought hazards in outstanding stunts and big escapes. The story was ridiculous, but all the routines were without and camera tricks or editing to intensify the character's originality. A few films preceded with various popularity and differentiating success (“Harry Houdini” Encyclopedia.com). In 1919, Houdini created Houdini Pictures Corporation and a film lab called The Film Development Corporation, but neither was a success. He also starred in films like Terror Island, The Grim Game, The Man From Beyond, The Master of Mystery, and Haldane of the Secret Service. He performed his own stunts and Houdini starred in a 1901 experimental film by a French cinema pioneer making him one of the first movie stars ever and even getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (“Harry Houdini Biography”). Houdini passed away on October 31, 1926 at the age of 52 when in the middle of a US tour. There are supposedly two ways he could have died, and one was from being poisoned by a band of spiritualists who didn't like what Houdini was doing to their reputation, although not much backs this up (“Harry Houdini” Encyclopedia.com). The other was that he died from a ruptured appendix after taking multiple blows to the abdomen by a boxing student J. Gordon Whitehead in Montreal. Houdini would ask people to hit him as hard as they could in his stomach to show how strong his body was. After a show Houdini would allow the boy to punch him, but he was reclined on his couch and was not prepared when Gordon threw multiple punches without Houdini being able to react fast enough. The pain of the punches would mask the pain of the appendicitis, which stalled Houdini from seeking treatment for some days. An attack of peritonitis hit Houdini on stage in Detroit and he was rushed to a hospital where the doctor attended to him and he survived for a few days until he died in the arms of his wife (“Harry Houdini” Encyclopedia.com). Born on March 24, 1874, Erich Weisz was an odd boy who was so fascinated by magic, he influenced millions. He began performing in 1894 and with his hard work and dedication made his passion into his very inspirational career. Erich got the name Houdini from a famous French magician, named Houdin and Harry from an American version of his nickname Ehrie. Together with his wife Wilhelmina they traveled across the world and performed their very famous magic tricks (“Harry Houdini” Bio.com).